"You don't have a choice, Aria."
My uncle says, the words echoing through the walls of his study. Silence stretches between us. The only sound is the rain pounding against the roof.
I sit across from him, back rigid against the cold leather chair, my fingers curled around the armrests until my knuckles ache. There's a fire burning in the fireplace behind me, but I can't feel its warmth. All I feel is ice—creeping up my spine, curling around my ribs, pressing into my lungs.
I don't respond. I don't breathe.
If I speak, I might scream. If I scream, I'll shatter. And if I shatter, I'll never be able to put myself back together again.
"I know this is difficult," he says, resting his arms on the table.
Fuck yes, it is.
"There are times when sacrifices must be made. Especially when it comes to family."
"By marrying a monster?" I finally speak after nearly fifteen minutes of sitting in this office. My voice is hoarse, almost foreign—filled with pain? Hatred?
"Yes, Aria. This is like killing two birds with one stone. You save your brother… and destroy the Morettis."
"This is Dante fucking Moretti we're talking about, Uncle! I don't even know why he sent such a proposal," I snap.
Dante Moretti.
The name tastes like acid on my tongue. The heir to the Moretti empire. The son of the man who destroyed my life. The devil I've been raised to hate since the moment I could comprehend what hatred meant.
The fucking monster sent a proposal to my uncle last week—that I should marry him. I refused.
And this morning? He sent a photo of my brother.
The same brother I've been searching for, for three fucking years.
The only person who shares the same womb as me.
"Marry me or you lose your brother. Forever. Smiley."
Simple and short, he wrote beneath the photo.
But to me, it wasn't just a message. It was everything.
My brother.
My baby brother.
My only living family.
Sixteen years old, with our father's fire and our mother's smile.
I can't lose him.
My stomach churns at the thought of his death.
"And if I say no?"
Uncle Ricardo's eyes narrow. "Then Luca dies."
No.
"Promise me, Aria. Promise you won't let anything bad happen to your brother," my father had said, blood pouring from his mouth.
"I do. I promise to always protect Luca and never allow anything bad to happen to him," I sniffled, my fingers tangled with his.
"Aria." My uncle's voice snaps me out of the memory.
"Nothing will happen to Luca," I say, my bloodshot eyes locked on my uncle.
"I'll marry him."
I'll wear the fucking white dress.
Play the happy bride.
Smile for the camera.
But Dante? He just signed his death contract. Not a marriage.
"I don't know what game you're playing, Dante. But whatever it is—I never lose. I'll use the same fucking game you're playing… and destroy both you and your father," I whisper to myself.
I've never tried to hide my hatred for the Morettis. Everyone knows the Morellos and the Morettis are enemies. We don't fight, but we don't mix. We hate each other. And everyone knows they're the reason for my family's destruction.
They've never hidden it either.
So a proposal from them? Just another dirty move in their twisted game.
If they wanted peace, they never should've involved my brother.
What Dante doesn't know is—he's playing with fire.
And the wrath of this fire will fucking burn his body, bones, and soul to ashes.